SSS-level catastrophe? That's my wife!

Elder Shui chuckled self-deprecatingly, a hint of sorrow in his voice: "The most ridiculous thing is the establishment of daylight."

"We originally intended to turn it into a second Zhen'eting for our own use... Now it seems that the destruction of Daybreak is only a matter of time."

"Qin Jiang's meager strength simply didn't give them time to grow."

"Our era has come to a complete end."

He sighed again and changed the subject, saying, "Let's not talk about this anymore."

What are your thoughts on the meeting just now?

"To conclude that the Red King is not dead without a single piece of evidence is utterly absurd."

"Even if we find her, are we just going to throw our lives away?"

Elder Yu waved his hand, his voice tinged with weariness: "Given the current situation, we don't even have the right to sit at the table anymore."

"Let them be. I want to enjoy my retirement."

……

At 8:30 p.m., the small village in the northernmost mountains of Mingcheng was completely shrouded in darkness.

In the courtyard of an earthen house at the east end of the village, a woman in a black dress sat gracefully on a stone bench, her skirt reaching her ankles.

Her gaze remained unfocused, as if she were looking at distant mountains, or perhaps she wasn't looking at anything at all.

At this moment, Tiechao came out of the mud house, sat on the stone bench two meters away from her, and said to himself, "In about ten minutes, the chicken will be stewed until it's tender."

"What a pity, we're out of alcohol at home. A meal without alcohol just doesn't feel right."

"Shovel."

The woman's sudden voice startled the shovel.

He looked up at her stunning profile, a hint of surprise in his憨厚 smile: "You surprised me, you actually took the initiative to talk to me."

"Huh?" The woman's voice was calm. "Afraid I'll eat you?"

Tieqiao scratched his head: "I'm not worried about that, it's just a bit unexpected."

"This is the first time you've spoken up in the months since you moved in."

The woman's expression remained aloof, but a faint smile played at the corners of her eyes: "I've never asked you before, why did you save me in the first place?"

The shovel's smile froze, a hint of sadness flashing in his eyes: "Saving you was just a coincidence."

"Actually, I don't believe my brother died there. His strength is no weaker than mine."

He paused, then resumed his憨厚 (honest and simple) demeanor, adding, "It's the same now, I still think he's not dead."

The woman's voice was flat: "Bai Jue? I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."

Iron Shovel's eyebrows suddenly twitched, and an invisible aura emanated from his body.

The woman added calmly, "If I told you that I killed him, would you regret saving me?"

"Are you trying to get rid of me now? Or... do you want to avenge Bai Jue?"

The next second, the shovel's aura instantly vanished, and he returned to his simple and honest demeanor, but his voice turned colder: "What you said is half true and half false."

"Why are you suddenly telling me all this today?"

The woman chuckled softly: "I've been observing you for months. You seem honest and simple, but you're actually quite shrewd."

"I hate people like you the most."

Tie Qiao's eyes darkened, and his tone became firm: "Bai Jue and I are only half a step away from the eighth rank."

"You are stronger than us, but I don't believe you can destroy Bai Jue."

The woman turned her head, revealing her bright eyes: "You have so much faith in him?"

The shovel shook its head: "I have confidence in myself."

"If you don't have the ability to destroy me, you also don't have the ability to destroy Bai Jue."

"So, you brought this up today because you're planning to tell me something, right?"

"Your honest and simple nature is still endearing."

The woman gazed at the sky, where the moon was half-hidden by clouds. "People, being too smart will bring a lot of trouble."

She paused, then added softly, "When Bai Jue was seriously injured, he was stabbed through the heart from behind by the Zhenguo Envoy."

"The ridiculous thing is, he died without ever knowing who did it."

"Consider this news my reward for staying here for a few months."

"I won't reveal more details."

"besides……"

"I'm not interested in the fact that you're still alive."

"Isn't this world full of lies?"

"boom--"

A powerful aura of a seventh-tier expert suddenly exploded out. Iron Shovel's face turned terrifyingly grim, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, and he said in a deep voice, "Just as I expected!"

"I told him long ago, the Zhenguo Envoy is no good!"

"But he entered Zhen'e Court through the route of the State Envoy; he trusted that person too much!"

A few seconds later, his breathing gradually calmed down, and his voice was low: "But I still don't believe he's dead."

"What's your basis?" the woman asked, looking at him with interest.

The man with the shovel looked up, his tone serious: "The fact that we didn't see his body is the best evidence."

"In this world, I only trust my own judgment."

The woman smiled faintly and said, "You look more pleasant when you're honest and simple."

The shovel said calmly, "You're more comfortable to watch when you're mute."

……

Beyond the mountains, at the end of a winding dirt road, a black Maybach sat quietly.

Behind us, a black SUV slowly drove up, its tires crunching over the gravel.

The car door opened, and a burly man in a leather jacket stepped out.

He glanced at the rolling mountains, then pulled out his phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Beep—beep—"

After two busy tones, a cool female voice came from the other end of the phone: "Where is your location?"

Xiong Hei straightened his back instinctively and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, the license plate was indeed obscured outside the mountains at the northernmost tip of Ming City."

"I'll send you my location."

"Um."

After hanging up the phone, Xiong Hei quickly sent the location information with his fingertips, then looked back at the mountains and murmured, "What's so special about these mountains?"

He shook his head, opened the car door, and sat back down: "How could I possibly guess about the King's affairs?"

The off-road vehicle restarted, kicking up a cloud of dust, and returned along the dirt road.

On the other side of the highway, a red SUV sped through the night.

Su Nianhe looked at the location on her phone, her delicate brows furrowing slightly: "The northernmost mountains of Mingcheng... Lin Mu, are you just bored and have nothing better to do?"

"Even if you don't want to talk to me, there's no need to come to such a remote place, is there? That's really going too far!"

"boom--"

As soon as she finished speaking, she pressed down hard on the accelerator, flooring it.

With a roar, the engine accelerated again, and the SUV sped off towards Mingcheng.

……

Deep in the mountains, as night deepens, several elderly people sit together under the old locust tree at the village entrance.

The bamboo chairs creaked, the palm-leaf fans gently swayed, and the conversation revolved around the everyday matters of the village, with the topic inevitably turning to the shovel at the east end of the village.

"On the other hand, we can't let the shovel go to such low levels."

"Now that girl can stay with him, what about later? When she gets tired of life in the mountains, he'll still have to go out and work hard."

"I don't think so!" The old man in the gray cloth shirt waved his hand in rebuttal. "My house is diagonally opposite Tiechao's."

"Every day I would leave before dawn, and that girl would be sitting in his yard."

"When I returned in the dark that night, she was still in the yard, quietly."

"There are so few young people these days who can be so calm!"

"Exactly!" the old man in the straw hat laughed and agreed. "There's an old saying that fools are often lucky, and this simple-minded lad with the shovel really got lucky! That's just fate!"

Suddenly, the old people stopped talking and turned their gazes to the entrance of the village.